Cinema's worst and best wigs

There is nothing that speaks more about us than our hair. It is no coincidence that it is our biggest concern or our most satisfying delight: there is no one who doesn’t want their haircut to always be perfect, who doesn’t love leaving the hairdresser with the feeling that their new look will change their life. The bad thing is that while ordinary people have to carry the burden of messy hair or an unsatisfying cut until their next appointment, celebrities always have stylists at their disposal or, at times, special wigs that they can put on and take off at will. Not exactly whenever they want, but at least when the set lights go off. The tradition of wigs in cinema history goes way back. While actors and actresses have been willing to gain or lose weight for roles over the years, managing their hair for the screen is not as easy as adjusting their weight. It requires an unexpected level of makeup and hairstyling work, often entrusted to professionals, whose best achievement is when the audience doesn’t even notice that they’re looking at a fake hairstyle. Sometimes, it just takes a bold cut—just think of Karen Gillan, who shaved her head completely bald to play Nebula in the MCU film saga, or Natalie Portman, who even did it live for V for Vendetta. But the biggest failures occur when a thick mane or a playful bob ends up looking like a cheap carnival wig—made of material that screams, «I was just pulled out of a plastic bag» and could catch fire at the slightest spark.

While a wig might suffice for our town fairs or family birthdays, the same does not apply to the film and television industry, which spends far more on wigs and similar accessories than we ever could. However, despite these investments, they sometimes fail to achieve excellent prosthetic work or refined post-production styling. Among all stars, the undisputed queen of bad wigs seems to be the fearless and unstoppable Nicole Kidman. Even for her latest film, Babygirl, people have focused more on her hair—or, as Vulture put it, on the «splintered broom bristles that serve as an atrociously stiff wig for Kidman»—rather than on the film’s erotic investigation into her CEO character’s repressed desires. This is nothing new in the actress's career, as she seems to have quite the track record when it comes to terrible wigs. Some of the worst include those from Lion (2016), Destroyer (2018), and Bombshell (2019), up to more recent films like Being the Ricardos (2021), where Kidman played comedian Lucille Ball, and the Netflix series The Perfect Couple, released in 2024. However, there are some gems in the Australian actress's wig collection: just remembering the radiant locks of Satine in the 2001 musical Moulin Rouge! is enough to make our hearts race.

Although it was Nicole Kidman and her wig that captured attention in Babygirl, her co-star Harris Dickinson was no less noticeable in the wrestling brothers’ biopic The Iron Claw. The blend of 1980s aesthetics and the wrestling world was vividly represented through the curly and helmet-like hairstyles of the three brothers. Alongside Dickinson, co-stars Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White also couldn’t escape wearing them. The wigs were crafted so meticulously that they never seemed to fall off during their intense fight scenes in the ring, despite the actors admitting they had «really destroyed them» in a joint interview with Entertainment Weekly. While the effort was commendable, it must be said that none of the three actors truly shone thanks to those vintage and questionable haircuts.

Even Hollywood men cannot avoid wearing wigs, and it’s not just about playing a real person to achieve the greatest possible resemblance. Some manage quite well, such as Tom Cruise, who, as admitted by the director of the latest Mission: Impossible films, Christopher McQuarrie, wore a wig for the final chapters as Ethan Hunt without it being too noticeable. The filmmaker stated: «All the additional pieces and reshoots done after Part Two started have a different hairstyle for Tom. He wears a wig for most of the film. It’s an incredible wig made by our amazing makeup department.» But the damage caused by a bad haircut was also demonstrated by Glen Powell in Hit Man - Killer by Chance. His character, working undercover, is not afraid to wear hairstyles that resemble red bowl cuts with symmetrical bangs or messy black wigs reminiscent of Severus Snape—luckily, he only wears them during his missions. 

Speaking of the wizard with thick black hair, another iconic wig is the one worn by Alan Rickman in the original Harry Potter saga. The fantasy genre doesn’t always shine when it comes to great aesthetic choices, even when big budgets are involved. Some people complained about Amber Heard’s Ariel-like hair in Aquaman—and, since we can’t seem to stop mentioning her, also Nicole Kidman’s hair as Atlanna. Others recall nothing about the 2015 reboot of Fantastic Four except for Kate Mara’s incredibly fake and unnatural blonde wig. For the next installment of the superhero team, the British actor Joseph Quinn has gone blonde. Based on the first trailer, it looks like it’s just dyed. However, he has already had his fair share of questionable wigs, such as Eddie Munson’s long, curly hair in Stranger Things (which was at least fitting for the character) and the shiny reddish bob of Emperor Geta in Gladiator 2. 

Among all fantasy franchises, few can claim to have assembled as many terrible wigs as Twilight. At the top of the worst list is Taylor Lautner’s long, artificial hair as Jacob Black. It was already unbearable in the first movie but downright infuriating in the second, New Moon, until his wolf pack had the decency to cut it and replace it with a much more respectable buzz cut. Unfortunately, this courtesy was not extended to poor Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) or Rosalie (Nikki Reed). We would never want to criticize one of the most interesting actresses of her generation, but we have to wonder what Kristen Stewart did to anger the hair and makeup department while making the third film, Eclipse. The unflattering hairstyle they gave Bella Swan was meant to cover up Stewart’s haircut after filming The Runaways in 2010. 

Whether you’re a famous actress like Julia Roberts or a beloved TV star like Michael C. Hall, there will always be someone who dislikes you enough to recommend a terrible wig—like the red bob in Mother’s Day or the boyish cut chosen for Dexter. Then there’s a third option, as seen with Halle Berry, who embraced the 11th anniversary of The Call with humor. The film became infamous largely for the protagonist’s curly wig, which Berry herself took inspiration from after meeting a 911 operator. To honor the 2013 thriller directed by Brad Anderson, she hosted a special screening in New York for her latest horror film, Never Let Go, inviting fans to wear her most iconic (and questionable) hairstyles. «Wear a bob. Bring a cat wig. Bring any wig as long as it’s destroyed,» she encouraged attendees, who eagerly complied. For those who came unprepared, Berry brought a bag full of wigs and handed them out to the audience. Perhaps the best way to deal with a bad haircut is simply to embrace it with humor.